There's an extra sense of excitement when your FLGS runs an "alternative" draft that doesn't follow a normal set of packs. So I was real excited when, at the last minute, I was able to go to the NYC Draft at Intergalactic Plastic: Spider-Man, TMNT, TMNT.
We had exactly eight people, so I'm sure they were happy I came as well! I didn't plan ahead, which is probably good, because then I might have tried to build a Villains theme... which would have been bad because the "bad guys" in TMNT don't have the villains type. In the end, I did get a bit of a menace theme instead! Here are all my picks:
Most importantly, check out all the land cyclers; I got seven in total! Including two Bebops, two Rocksteadys, and a Bebop & Rocksteady! Because I got all those land cyclers, I made the dangerous decision to run only 15 lands. I think that was too much and I should have gone 16 instead, because I did mulligan a lot. Nevertheless, here's my deck:
In the first round I was up against a very aggressive Rakdos deck. In the first game, they played Raphael, Tough Turtle on turn two, which wound up being the MVP. My life total got too low too quickly and I couldn't catch up. In the second game, I got Bebop & Rocksteady on turn four, but my opponent handled them with The Spot's Portal. My Ninja Teen came out the next turn, though, and I learned just how amazing that card was, especially with all the land cyclers. I out-valued my opponent and won. In game three, I got J. Jonah Jameson out early, then Bebop & Rocksteady. My opponent was stuck on three lands and couldn't keep up. 1-0.
Before the next round, I got in a bonus game against an Orzhov Ninjas deck a friend was running. I died to Dark Leo & Shredder. I put up a fight and kept trying to remove it, but continually failed.
In the second round, I was up against another Rakdos deck, but this time control-focused. They played Raphael, Tough Turtle on turn two of the first game, but didn't lay down an absolute barrage of creatures right after, so I got back into the game. Sadly, South Wind Avatar came down a few turns later, and the combo of creatures hurting me when they came in and left was enough to take me out.
In game two, Hobgoblin came down early and got in some big hits, but I was able to deal with it. Sadly, South Wind Avatar came out again and I lost a lot from it. I hit it with Retro Mutation late, but my life total was real low. I finally stabilized at 1 (against my opponent's 24) with the help of Ninja Teen. At ten lands, I matched my opponent's creatures with my own for many turns and got them under 20 life. I knew I had limited time, so I needed to keep the pressure on, then use Ninja Teen sneaking to get a creature back in my hand and replay it. I was keeping enough blockers up to stay alive until my opponent drew Death in the Family and I was toast. We played a bonus third game and I lost that one too, without facing down the South Wind Avatar. This loss was not a fluke. 1-1.
In the final round I was up against a removal-filled Abzan deck. In the first game I got out Bebop & Rocksteady, but they got Grounded for Life. My opponent, meanwhile, got a Michelangelo, Game Master and a Lurking Lizards out and just kept hitting.
In game two, I got J. Jonah Jameson down on turn three and was ready to go off. Unfortunately, my opponent Grounded them for Life, then did the same thing to the Putrid Pals I played. Thankfully I kept drawing into creatures and they drew into lands and more lands. I was able to win with a flying attack of Sun-Spider with Hard-Won Jitte among others. In game three, my opponent played Transdimensional Bovine and used that to power out a bunch of good cards. I played creatures, but they ate it to removal. (They said they were packing eight removal cards!) My opponent got six creatures down with the help of Friendly Neighborhood and I could not keep up. 1-2
Here are my takeaways:
- Some nights I take better notes than others. I definitely feel more pressure to keep up the pace of the match at the stores.
- I got lucky with my game wins. I think this could've (should've?) gone worse than it did.
- I'm not sure what to say about massive amount of land cyclers. I really like them, but perhaps 15 lands is too few and I should have run 16 instead. When I went with 17, I felt like I was getting flooded all the time. Maybe 16 is the sweet spot.
- Everything Pizza is amazing. So many games I got to seven mana and that card made a difference. Two copies was great.
Not everyone may love the idea of a NYC-themed draft, but this was fun for me because I hadn't done a TMNT draft before. Happy Magicking to you, whether your next draft takes place in New York or not!
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